Ananda Balasana

Ananda Balasana

Happy Baby Pose

Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose) is considered to be a forward bend as well as a core exercise. The Happy Baby Pose is very effective in bringing about relaxation by making the mind calm. By performing some gentle stretches in the pose before going to bed, you will feel the tension being released from your hips and lower back, making you feel a lot more relaxed.When performing the Ananda Balasana (Happy Baby Pose) as part of your yoga routine, you should give support to your neck by using props like a folded blanket. While the Happy Baby Pose in yoga is considered to be good for advanced practitioners as well as beginners, keeping a blanket between your head and shoulders will help you perform the pose better.

Procedure:

1. You can begin the Happy Baby Pose by first coming into the lying position on your back. While breathing deeply, you should let your knees fold and bring them to press into your belly.2. Take a deep breath, and with your hands hold onto the outside part of your feet. If you find it difficult to hold your feet with your hands, you could make use of a belt or a scarf that goes over each instep. Bring your knees to widen more than your torso and let them be pushed to your underarms.3. Let each ankle be placed above each knee, so that your shins make a right angle to the ground. Through both your heels, without using too much effort, flex and let your feet be thrust into your hands (or belt or scarf). Let your hands be pulled down so that a resistance is created.4.Your thighs should be brought in towards your body, and your tailbone should be pushed down towards the mat as your spine is stretched. Your pelvis should be released towards the mat and your skull's base should be stretched away from the neck. Make sure that at all times that your hips do not come off the mat. To ensure this, you could let your lower back and tailbone press into the mat.5. This pose can be held for 30-60 seconds. To get out of the pose, you should breathe out, let your feet be released, and place them on the mat. Once you complete the happy baby pose steps you can relax for a few breaths.

Benefits:

Being a good hip opener, it needs the strength of the arms, instead of allowing gravity to do the work. Hence, this pose comes under the poses that work with arm flexion or help to make the biceps strong.The pose helps release tension from the area of the lower back.As mentioned earlier, it helps open the hips, shoulders, and chest.The pose also helps stretch the inner groin, spine, back, inner thighs, and hamstrings in a gentle manner.It provides deep compression of the stomach.
It relaxes the sacrum. Squatting is a very good way to improve the health of the pelvic floor. If you are not able to perform a squat while you are upright you can try out this pose as it is basically squatting in the lying position. This makes it easier to stretch the hips in a safe manner. It usually happens that beginners get tired and stop pulling the feet during the performance of the pose. However, it is alright because by that time the legs weight will be enough to make the pose work. This pose can be beneficial for athletes before starting any workout or training. This is because it gives an easy stretch to the inner thigh without putting any stress on the back.

Precautions:

Just like with all yoga postures, you should make sure to perform the Happy Baby Pose correctly and take certain precautions to avoid injury or make an injury worse.Avoid this pose during pregnancy and if you have a knee injury.If you have a neck injury, you should make use of a thickly folded blanket to provide support to the head.
Another precaution you should take when performing this pose is to make sure that the spine is straight.This precaution is important because if there is a curve in the back in either direction your spine can be injured. This pose can also become an inversion that is mild. Therefore, a student who is in the moon cycle should avoid practicing this posture or if he or she has high blood pressure.

Position:

You can begin the Happy Baby Pose by first coming into the lying position on your back. While breathing deeply, you should let your knees fold and bring them to press into your belly.